NOW: GOP Assault on Middle Class is a 'War on Women'

Interview with Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

With Republicans in leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives and a majority of states in the hands of Republican governors and legislatures, budget cuts and policy changes are being proposed -- and in many cases, passed -- that disproportionately impact women, especially women of color. At the federal level, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., won passage in the House of his 2012 budget proposal that would convert Medicare from a program in which the government pays medical bills of senior citizens over 65 years of age --- into a voucher system that provides inadequate subsidies to purchase private insurance coverage. The GOP budget would also make major cuts to social safety net programs, such as food stamps, and impose a 35 percent cut on Medicaid and turn the program into state-administered block grants. In contrast to the deep cuts, Ryan’s budget reduces the tax burden on the nation’s wealthiest citizens and big corporations.

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